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Weights and Measurements

Dimensions (Approx.) : 3-1/8" x 4-3/8"
(78 x 110 mm)

Weight (Approx.) : 15.1 oz. (427g)

Features

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Circular Aperture

When changing your aperture to defocus the background, the light sources appear blurred. This ‘bokeh’ effect of the blurred background can be enhanced with circular aperture blades used in this lens. Conventional aperture blades have flat sides creating unappealing polygonal shaped defocussed points of light. α lenses overcome this problem through a unique design that keeps the aperture almost perfectly circular from its wide-open setting to when it is closed by 2 stops. Smoother, more natural defocusing can be obtained as a result.

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Aspherical lens elements

Aspherical lens design dramatically reduces spherical aberration while also reducing lens size and weight. Spherical aberration is a slight misalignment of the light rays projected on the image plane. This is caused by differences in refraction at different points on conventional spherical lenses which degrade image quality in large-aperture lenses. Specially shaped “aspherical” elements near the diaphragm restore alignment of light rays at the image plane, maintaining high sharpness and contrast even at maximum aperture and can also be used at other points in the optical path to reduce distortion. Well-designed aspherical elements can reduce the total number of elements required in the lens, thus reducing overall size and weight.
Advanced Aspherical (AA) elements are an evolved variant, featuring an extremely high thickness ratio between the center and periphery. AA elements are exceedingly difficult to produce, relying on the most advanced molding technology to consistently and precisely achieve the required shape and surface accuracy, resulting in significantly improved image accuracy and quality.

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ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass

As focal lengths get longer, lenses built with conventional optical glass have difficulties with chromatic aberration, and as a result images suffer from lower contrast, lower color quality, and lower resolution. ED glass dramatically reduces chromatic aberration at telephoto ranges, and provides superior contrast across the entire image, even at large aperture settings. Super ED glass provides enhanced compensation for chromatic aberration.

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Lens-based optical image stabilization

Gyro sensors built into the lens detect even the slightest movement, and the stabilization lens is precisely shifted to counteract any image blur that might occur. The use of precision, quiet linear motors and technology inherited from high-end Sony professional camcorders results in exceptionally quiet, effective image stabilization that contributes to high-quality movies as well as stills.

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Internal focusing

Only the middle groups of the optical system move to achieve focus, so the overall length of the lens does not change. Other important benefits include fast autofocusing and a short minimum focusing distance. Also, the filter thread at the front of the lens does not rotate, which is convenient if you’re using a polarizing filter.

Rated 4 out of 5 by 4
reviewers.

Rated 4 out of 5 by Myxin Very good value for the price
This lens is a very good value for anybody doing both videos and stills. The power zoom is very silent and smooth for videos and the stabilization is very good. For stills, the lens is very sharp from around f5.6 to f8 but a little bit soft wide open. It produces very good images. The constant f4 aperture is very nice and a good compromise to keep the size down and, it makes it very versatile. The lens is quite big though, especially on the small body of my nex 5r, but easy to use and not to heavy. Highly recommended for the price!
August 14, 2014

Rated 4 out of 5 by WestOkid Very nice all around lens
The lens has great build quality and good optics for a good price. It's only drawback is its form factor. It's rather large. However, the size is relative. If you consider the focal length it covers and the constant F/4 aperture, the size is actually reasonable.
October 1, 2014

Rated 4 out of 5 by nickisntmyrealname Vs. SEL18200
This new lens will no doubt be an excellent lens. But the SEL18200 is also an excellent lens. There likely will not be any noteworthy difference in image quality between the two lenses. At its longest focal length, this lens is a little more than a full stop faster than the SEL18200, at the same focal length. The power zoom control on this lens no doubt will work very well indeed, for shooting video, but won't provide any real advantage for shooting still images. This lens evidently will cost less, but this isn't enitirely certain, and will depend on whether it is possible to find discounts for either lens. The two lenses are very nearly identical in size and weight. But the SEL18200 extends to focal length nearly twice as great, and its active steady shot stabilization works amazingly well. It remains to be seen whether this lens will have the active form of optical steady shot. All in all, it is not the least bit apparent whether this lens will be more desirable than the SEL18200, especially for anyone who mainly does still photography.
September 4, 2013

Rated 4 out of 5 by Leebergtally Good value
I bought this lens because it has a constant f4 aperture and was moderately priced. I'm using it with the NEA EX50 camcorder. It's a good medium range zoom. It's plenty sharp throughout the zoom range. While the power zoom is better than the 18-200 powered zoom that came with my 50, you will still be hard pressed to get a smooth start and end. Also the focus is difficult. I often use the momentary auto focus. Still I am glad I added it to my modest arsenal of lenses.
September 26, 2014